


Agents AU

by straeon



Category: Once Upon A Time - Fandom, Sleeping Warrior - Fandom
Genre: AU, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 12:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3529037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straeon/pseuds/straeon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU in which Mulan and Aurora were also affected by the (original) curse, but were not sent to Storybrooke, so of course they’re both agents outside of Storybrooke. And may or may not be Mulder and Scully.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Agents AU

“There’s no such thing as fairy tales. You know that, right?” Agent Hua Mulan asked her new partner, who she’d just been assigned to. “Tell me you know that.”

“Agent,” Aurora Dawn replied from her desk, removing her glasses with a sigh. “I’m not saying fairy tales… _necessarily_. But if you look at the evidence, you’ll see what I see.”

“Which is?” Mulan asked in her normal dry tone.

“There is something strange happening in a little town called Storybrooke.” Aurora handed a big file across the desk to her then gave a smile. “Road trip?”

Mulan picked up the file. It was heavier than she expected.

“I’ll get … back to you.” She walked out of the office uncertainly. This was surely going to be entirely ridiculous but it was her job to at least read it.

Aurora sat back down in the empty office. She knew Hua Mulan had only been assigned to her to discredit her. But she was sure after reading that file, she would want to check it out, at least. 

At least so Aurora could get out of this dingy basement.

 

Who knows? It could be nice having a partner. At least Mulan had taken the evidence Aurora had collected, instead of laughing at her to her face.

Mulan sat at her own office upstairs, papers, newspaper clippings and even strange objects strewn before her under the light of her desk lamp. The sun was setting and people were leaving around her, some giving her puzzled looks.

She couldn’t make sense of it.

Some of it was explainable, like the disappearance of Emma Swan. She’d been in prison before, perhaps she’d committed another crime. Or she was after someone herself, as part of her job as a bounty hunter. Or… anything.

But her car had never been found after last being seen on the way to Storybrooke.

_If_ she could explain Emma Swan, how could she explain the other people who’d gone missing there? It was all around one small town. A town which she couldn’t find enough information on and that information contradicted itself. And where were the accounts of people who’d just driven through there? Stayed in its B &B?

Sighing, Mulan began to collect the papers again, arranging them back how she’d been given them, which was very carefully arranged. Already she was going to go against her orders – to _discredit_ Agent Dawn. But she had to admit it, the kooky Agent in the basement was right. There was something strange happening in Storybrooke, Maine. And she supposed she would be going on a road trip with her new partner.

 

“Shotgun!” Aurora called as she did a half sprint to the driver’s side of the car.

“You don’t have to shout shotgun to drive,” Mulan said drily as she walked more slowly to the other side of the rented car, keeping her head slow to hide that she was struggling to not smile. Mulan tried to suppress the thought but she couldn’t – Agent Aurora Dawn was practically glowing, Mulan assumed with the chance to finally investigate closer. She was more relaxed in jeans and a pink t-shirt, contrasting to Mulan’s pant suit. And she was adorable.

“Come on!” Aurora exclaimed, now sitting with her hands on the wheels and a wide, mischievous smile on her pretty face.

“Okay!” Mulan said, getting in. “Let’s go.”

“Is that all you’re bringing?” Aurora asked, straining her neck to check the back seats.

“Yeah,” Mulan said.

“Really, that’s all?” Aurora repeated.

“I bring with me all I really need,” Mulan told her.

“Very zen of you” Aurora nodded, starting the car. Mulan rolled her eyes, making no response.

Many minutes passed in awkward silence, both unsure whether to get used to the silence or get to know their new partner. After a while, Aurora returned to pondering the case, as she ended up doing most of the time.

“You haven’t told me much of your thoughts on Storybrooke,” Aurora said finally.

Mulan shrugged. “We’ll know more soon.”

“Okay,” Aurora said. “You’re the strong, silent time then, I see.”

“I just don’t have much to say about it,” Mulan responded, not sure whether she was being teased. “We need more evidence or… some sort of plan of what to do.”

“Plan?” Aurora asked, scrunching her nose.

“Well, what do we do when we get there?”

“Find Storybrooke… Look for clues?” she joked, giving Mulan a smile.

“Keep your eyes on the road,” Mulan said humourlessly.

“Yes, ma’am!” Aurora saluted.

“And your hands on the wheel!” Mulan said more sternly.

“Okay, okay,” Aurora said.

“Sorry,” Mulan said after a few more uncomfortable minutes of silence. “I’m not used to being the passenger.”

“It’s fine,” Aurora shrugged, but she remained less light hearted than she had been before. “If you wanted to drive you should’ve said so, though.”

“It’s not that,” Mulan said. “It’s the… taking a backseat. This is your investigation. I want to respect that. I’m just not used to it… To not having something to _do_.”

“I understand,” Aurora said. With a more serious tone now, to the more serious discussion, she seemed more adult, Mulan noted. She had a very young face – she was young, for an agent. But it was evident in moments like this, when she wasn’t being excitable over her possibly paranormal case, that she was more mature and more experienced than her years would suggest. “Thank you for your respect.”

“It’s no problem,” Mulan said, looking out at the passing fields, suddenly uncomfortable with this… was this going to get into heart-to-heart territory?

“Sooo,” Aurora said, trying to adopt a more lightened tone again. “What did you do before?”

“Oh, the usual,” Mulan said.

“What does that even mean?” Aurora laughed. “You know, you seem like an action hero type. Did you kick butt a lot? I bet you kicked butt.”

“Yeah,” Mulan smiled, remembering some of the times she’d been more successful in her career, times she’d been right, when she talked people down at the end of her gun, when she tackled them down… “I kicked butt.”

“You go, girl!”

“Do people still say that?” Mulan chuckled, despite herself.

“Well, I do,” Aurora said. “And I’m people. No matter what certain people will tell you. And probably have.”

It was true, Mulan had heard a lot about Aurora before they became partners – a lot of not very positive things about her. That she was weird, that she was stuck up, that she was too pretty to be smart, basically, some of which Mulan already bit back at. Aurora was sweet and feminine and young, that was her personality and she didn’t change it for anyone. It was a total contrast to Mulan’s demeanour but she respected Aurora’s strength of character.

“And that tells me you have,” Aurora said, cocking her head.

“Nothing I believed,” Mulan said quickly. Aurora smiled at her, and it was genuine and grateful – Mulan wondered if anyone else ever took her seriously – and she didn’t tell Aurora to look back at the road for the moment their eyes met, for a couple of seconds that felt like so much more than that.

 

“So – you know where we’re going?” Aurora asked, way too chirpy than she should be at this time of morning.

“Yeah,” Mulan said seriously – Aurora had given her responsibility of the map, it wasn’t Aurora’s strong point. 

“Let’s go then!” Aurora said, placing her hand on Mulan’s hand that was on the map for a moment.

“How much coffee have you had?” Mulan asked, her face behind the map.

“How much coffee have you haven’t had?” Aurora asked with her eyebrows raised.

“What?” Mulan asked, laughing again. She’d only laughed a few times with Aurora yet it was more than she could remember with any other agent. For once, she felt like she didn’t have to prove herself as a woman agent. At first, she hadn’t assumed it would be like that with Aurora simply because she was a woman as well, considering how different they were. Mulan depended more on brawn in her career, and Aurora more on brains. But it didn’t matter with Aurora, none of the attitudes Mulan had had to deal with in her career, or for anything else, mattered now.

“What?!” Aurora echoed when they both sat in the car again. Mulan had been watching her face, the excitement that was written all over it that soon, just a couple of hours from the B&B they’d arrived at late last night, she might have the answers that she sought. Last night, when they separated to go to their different rooms, a part of Mulan didn’t want to leave her side. It was silly, she knew, but she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her until she drifted off to sleep.

“You’re quiet,” Aurora said, some time later. “I mean, you’re always quiet but – you have something on your mind?”

“No,” Mulan said too quickly. “Well, yeah,” she sighed.

“Me too,” Aurora said, becoming serious again.

“Oh?” Mulan said. She shouldn’t be hopeful. She knew how that had ended with her last partner, and Phillip had been a man.

“That we’re nearly here,” Aurora said, choosing her words carefully. “That we could find out we’ve come all this way for nothing or… Who knows…?”

“Yeah,” Mulan said, trying to not feel disheartened – of course that’s what was on Aurora’s mind.

“I’m just so close,” Aurora said, sounding apprehensive about the prospect.

“I understand,” Mulan said. “I’ve been there before.”

“You have?” Aurora said, looking over at her for a moment before turning back to the road.

“I know it can feel like you need to prove yourself,” Mulan said. “To be taken seriously. But you don’t.”

“Thanks,” Aurora said. “But that’s not really true. I know you’re here to prove how wrong I am, for one thing.”

“No,” she said. “That was what I was told to do but – we’re still partners. I’m in this with you now.” God, she had been the one to cause a heart-to-heart.

“Thank you,” Aurora said, still sounding uncertain. “It doesn’t matter though. We’ll find Storybrooke.”

“Okay,” Mulan said – doubtfully, but deciding this wasn’t the time to share that.

More time passed, with both of them sitting deep in thought, speaking only about where they were going.

“This is – is this it?” Aurora asked as she began to slow down on an empty road.

“We’re nearly there,” Mulan said, looking again at her map. “This should be the way there. Keep going.”

Aurora did but there was no sign of the small town that was meant to be here. After they drove for what should have been through the whole town, made turns where they found them, drove back where they’d come from and tried again, Aurora finally killed the engine.

“What is going on?” Aurora asked, frustration and despair in her voice.

“I – don’t know,” Mulan said, still examining the map.

“Ugh!” Aurora hit the driving wheel before slumping forward with her head on her folded arms, over the wheel.

“Maybe if we try this way-” Mulan tried to sound more optimistic.

“No,” Aurora said. “It’s hopeless.”

“Aurora,” Mulan said. After a second she realised that was the first time she’d addressed her by her first name – and that it felt so right on her lips.

“Don’t you see?” Aurora said. “There’s some sort of – I don’t know. Barrier? Or… There’s something stopping us from finding Storybrooke.”

“I don’t know,” Mulan said. “Maybe it’s wrong,” she said thoughtfully, looking down at where she was sure they should be on the map – just outside the town of Storybrooke, yet there was no sign of it.

“Forget the map!” Aurora raised her voice suddenly.

“It’s a town … that exists… We will find it.” Mulan said, trying to sound logical.

“No,” Aurora shook her head. “Not if someone doesn’t want us to.”

They sat in silence again. Aurora stared forward determinedly – Mulan was unsure if she was waiting for something, perhaps for the Godforsaken town to finally appear where it was meant to be, or if she was deep in thought over this. She didn’t know what someone Aurora meant but she couldn’t disagree that something wasn’t right here.

Mulan was interrupted from her thoughts, on what Aurora’s thoughts might be, when the other agent suddenly shoved her door open, slamming it behind her and sprinting forward on the road.

“Aurora!” Mulan called as she followed suit, going after her.

“It has to be here” Aurora said.

“But – it’s not,” Mulan said, anxiety seeping into her voice.

“Maybe there’s some sort of doorway or – I don’t know, a portal?” Aurora said, examining the road before her feet and turning in circles as she looked around her, searching for something.

“That’s,” Mulan said. “I don’t see how that could-”

“Oh, just say it,” Aurora rose her voice, the frustration rising to the surface. “It’s crazy – I’m crazy and stupid and this is ridiculous! Right?”

“No,” Mulan shook her head. “No, you’re right. It has to be here somewhere.”

“It – it does?” Aurora asked, uncertainly.

“Maybe not _here_ ,” Mulan said, motioning to the area around them with her arms. “But somewhere. Around here.” She shrugged.

Aurora laughed, causing Mulan to double take.

“I’m sorry,” Aurora said, at the obvious confusion over Mulan’s face. “I just – I don’t know what to do.”

“We’ll think of something,” Mulan said decisively. “We’ll investigate, we’ll ask around the area, we’ll – we’ll search for clues! Right?” She smiled weakly.

“Yeah,” Aurora said equally as weakly, still searching around her. “But I meant I don’t know what to do when somebody actually believes I could be right about something.”

“Look,” Mulan said, stepping directly in front of Aurora. “I understand. I do. I… haven’t told you. About my past-”

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to,” Aurora interrupted.

“No, I want to. I trust you,” Mulan said softly, which was met with a kind smile from Aurora. “I messed up. There was this case, maybe the same as this one is to you. There was this one criminal – and I had to take him down. At whatever cost. I got obsessed with it, even.”

“And you were taken off it for that?” Aurora asked, listening intently.

“No,” Mulan said. “My superior told me he was worried about me. My partner thought I needed to let it go – other personal stuff happened with my last partner too – and I could tell, they didn’t trust me any more, they didn’t trust my judgement. So I let them take me off it. And I shouldn’t have! I wanted to be taken seriously, by men who couldn’t believe I was equal to them, even after proving it for years, but I shouldn’t have given up. Aurora, you shouldn’t give up either.”

“Really?” Aurora said, her eyes glistening.

“Yes,” Mulan said, smiling widely now. “And I’ll be here with you.”

“Thank you, Mulan,” Aurora said, taking her hands. Mulan’s breath caught in her throat and she laughed nervously – the touch of her warm skin felt like magic. Their eyes met and they held each other’s gaze for what felt like – who knew how long? It felt timeless to Mulan.

“Look,” Aurora said, turning away as something behind Mulan caught her attention, to Mulan’s disappointment.

“What?” Mulan asked as Aurora walked past her.

“Look,” Aurora said, waving her hand to indicate she should follow her.

“Flowers?” Mulan furrowed her brow when she saw what Aurora was bending over.

“Magnolias,” Aurora said wistfully. “Aren’t they beautiful?”

Mulan stepped forward and glanced at them too. They were.

“This means something,” Aurora said, looking at Mulan seriously.

“I – well, yeah, this isn’t where I’d expect them, on the side of a road – and they’re pretty but… I’ve seen magnolias before, it doesn’t always mean something when I see my namesake.”

“No, they mean something,” Aurora said, staring at them nearly.

“What is it?” Mulan asked, in concern.

“I don’t know,” Aurora said, shaking her head. “I just feel like – I’m trying to remember something but it’s just out of my reach…”

As Mulan stepped next to her, she could understand that. But then she shook her head – it was surely the power of suggestion.

“Do you ever feel like something’s missing that you have to find? Like you’re incomplete?” Aurora asked quietly, still watching the flowers as they fluttered in a gentle breeze.

“Sometimes,” Mulan admitted. That was exactly how she’d been feeling but she didn’t want to admit it, not how close she felt to Aurora right now either.

Turning to face Mulan, Aurora took her hand tightly.

“Let’s go,” she said, smiling, pulling Mulan back to the car.

“Where are we going?” Mulan questioned her.

“To search for clues, silly,” Aurora said, though he chipper attitude seemed somewhat forced now. “We can find what’s going on together and… We can find what’s missing together.” She tightened her hold on Mulan’s hand, as Mulan did back, feeling such a strong connection to her new partner that already, it felt like she’d found something that had been missing.


End file.
